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10 Dec 2016 6:03:19am

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But is it absolutely true that we should organise our society on non 'literalistic embodiment of the Judeo-Christian heritage'? If it is absolutely true then it applies absolutely and non-relativistically for all societies. If it is only relative then why am I even listening to you? It doesn't even apply to me, it is true only for Jefferson's time supposedly.

And you encounter a problem because you are forced to say that Nazism was true for Germany and Communism true for Russia, and Pol Pot's beliefs true for Cambodia. If you want to judge these regimes you have to have a standard independent of particular societies in order to measure their relative goodness or lack of.

The fact is the content of the moral law is unchanging across all societies - it's just that their application can be good or bad in each generation. Social influences can obscure recognition of aspects of the natural law or highlight aspects. Today we kill many millions of babies in the womb and can't see the wickedness of that. Some of us can't see the horrible injustice of abolishing marriage by redefinition.